Artificial sponge and device for manufacturing same



Invention fllorney L. c. ABRAHAM 1,877,155

ARTIFICIAL SPONGE AND DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING SAME Filed oct. v8, 195oam www! lm/fam Patented Sept. 13, 1932 LEWIS CROWFORD ABRAHAM, OFAUDERG-HEM, BELGIUM ARTIFICIAL SPONGE AND DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING SAMEAppiication aleacetober 8,1930, seriaiNo.

My present invention relates to artificial Sponges for cleaning kitchenutensils vand other similar purposes and it has for its object toprovide an improved sponge Vof this type formed of a bag made of gauzeand stuffed with any suitable filling material.

In artiicial Sponges of this type the opening of the bag is usuallyclosed by means of a wire inserted through the meshes ot the m gauze andtightened in order to drawthev rims of said opening close together. Theends of said wire section are usually twisted together in order topreventthe mouth of the bag' from being opened accidentally. The

method of making such a closure, as wellV as the closure itself, isobjectionablein many respects. i

The making of the closure requires cornparatively much time and skill.The closure itself is objectionable in that it is not very strong andthetwisted ends of the closing wire section may easily hurt the usershands.

My present invention has for its object to provide a sponge of the typedescribed having a fixed closure7 no dangerous unevennesses and a neaterappearance than sponges Y closed by means of wire sections.-

Broadly stated my invention consists in providing a cap for closing themouth of the bag, the rim of said mouth previously drawn close togetherbeing housed within said cap. I prefer to secure on the sponge by meansof teeth formed on it and engaging the meshes of the sponge but I do notdesire to limit my selit1 to this embodiment.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figs. 1 to 3 are diagrammatical views iof diiierent steps of the spongebag closing op'- eration.

40 Fig-4 shows the finished sponge with its closing cap.

Fig. la shows ac a handle. Y The iirst step of my improved methodconsists in dra-wing the rims of the opening 1 ofv losing cap providedwith 487,352, and inelgium October 14, 1929.

uze 2 close toforming the sponge is cut from a wire gauze tube in thevshape of a sleeve drawn toget her in the shape of a ball and turnedinside out to form a bag,

the bottom '3 of which is c means of a wire section or the like.

losed inside by From Figs. 1 and2 it will be seen how the opening neck 5by means of several radially arranged moving iin'gers 4: whose points 17engage the f wire gauze near its edge.

In the second step of my provided with a crown of method a cap 6 teeth 7will-be placed upon the collar `5. The teeth 7 will be bent inwardly tocause the the collar 5 as shown in Fig.

same to engage 8. To this end I use a plunger 8 which in its upwardmovement will press the cap'6 a gainst 'y the ends of the fingers 4moved close together, whereby the teeth'7 engaging the on the lingers lwill be be curved faces V9 nt inwardly at right angles to the ring ofthe cap.

In the finished sponge as showny in Fig.

4lthe rounded part of the cap only is visible and forms an ornamentwhichis for instance convenient `for printing a trade mark or anyadvertisement thereon.

The cap 6 may also be provided with a han-v dle 6a as shown in Fig. 4a,enabling the sponge to be easily grasped. Said handle 6a may be attachedto the cap 6 in any desired way.

Having now fully described my said invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

cap closing the' opening in having an annular series of ing intothe edgeof the Ycov toward the center of the ca edges of the gauze together.

the cover and prongs projecter and crimped p to secure the ll of saidbag may be contracted to form a 2. A scouring device comprising anelastic body, a cover of Wire gauze for the elastic body, the edge ofthe Wire gauze being drawn together to enclose the elastic body, and a Gconcavo-conyeX cap closing the opening in the cover and having prongsprojecting into the edge of the cover and crimped toward the center ofthe cap to secure the edge of the gauze together, the cap and crimped wedge of the gauze being roced upwardly into the elastic body, wherebythe outer contour of the cap is substantially the same contour as thegauze.

LEWIS CROWFORD ABRAHAM.

